A Badass Photo of Lady Gaga and Her Ladyparts

One thing Lady Gaga could use lately is a sense of humor. Her new Artpop album is short on it. The cover, designed by Jeff Koons, is done in the style of his recent sculptures of classic figures, with a big blue ball covering Gaga's ladyparts and shards of The Birth of Venus shooting out behind her. As others have pointed out, it looks like the work of a bottoming-out artist grasping at straws and a pop star all too eager to co-opt his brand to burnish her own.

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But maybe there's a smile somewhere inside Lady Gaga, an awareness of how ridiculous this all looks. At least that's the hope of this glorious photo by Terry Richardson, of Gaga standing in front of the oversize sculpture of herself — sans ball, with the legs spread, ladyparts fully exposed. It's way more clever than the actual Artpop cover, and funnier. Gaga gives a thumbs-up to the statue, as if to say, Yeah, my genitals are pretty awesome. Who needs all that Koonsian affectation? This is the work of a straight-up rock star.